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Uber CEO tries to rewrite corporate culture amid backlash
Uber has been trying to recover from a long line of missteps and outright problems, with reports of sexual harassment, various lawsuits and investigations, reports of passenger tracking and a former CEO with plenty of issues of his own. The ride-sharing company's new CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, took to LinkedIn Tuesday with a Medium-style blog post that promises new company "cultural norms" aimed at regaining the trust of employees and the return of positive public opinion. The new norms were shared with Uber employees at an all-staff meeting, according to Recode.
iPhone 5s reappears on GameStop trade-in page, joined by the 5c
GameStop jumped the gun in late August by (perhaps mistakenly) putting the unannounced iPhone 5s on its device trade-in page, complete with offers for cash trade and in-store credit. The page was pulled after we first pointed it out, but now that the iPhone 5s is officially official (yeah, I said it) the company has brought it back. Oh, and the iPhone 5c has popped up as well. The prices for the iPhone 5s appear to be in line with what we got a sneak peek of back in August, though the Verizon version of the device -- which wasn't available in the early price leak -- is worth less. Normally the Sprint version of the smartphone warrants the lowest trade-in value, so either there's something special about the iPhone 5s or GameStop hasn't tweaked the Sprint values quite yet. All prices are USD. iPhone 5s ("Like New" condition): 16GB (AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile) -- $480 (store credit), $382 (cash) 32GB (AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile) -- $530, $422 64GB (AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile) -- $580, $462 16GB (Verizon) -- $460, $366 32GB (Verizon) -- $510, $406 64GB (Verizon) -- $560, $446 The iPhone 5c, on the other hand, shows the wild trade-in value variation we usually expect from carrier to carrier, with Sprint's version of the device taking a huge hit: iPhone 5c ("Like New" condition): 16GB (AT&T, T-Mobile) -- $252.50 (store credit), $200 (cash) 32GB (AT&T, T-Mobile) -- $258.75, $205 16GB (Sprint) -- $190, $150 32GB (Sprint) -- $196.25, $155 16GB (Verizon) -- $208.75, $165 32GB (Verizon) -- $215, $170
GameStop wants to buy your iPhone 5S, even though it doesn't officially exist yet (Updated)
GameStop sure is on top of its game these days. Not only does the company -- which has made a name for itself as a reseller of used video games -- accept trade-ins on a litany of devices ranging from BlackBerry smartphones to Android tablets, but it will even offer a hefty sum for your nonexistent iPhone 5S. As you can see by the screenshot above, GameStop has added the not-yet-official, next-gen Apple smartphone to its list of accepted devices, complete with its own trade-in values. So how much is an unreleased phone worth these days (or, more accurately, how much will the iPhone 5S be worth once it's actually available to purchase)? Let's compare the iPhone 5S trade-in values with that of the iPhone 5: iPhone 5 ("Like New" condition): 16GB (AT&T) - $390 (store credit), $310 (cash) 32GB (AT&T) - $458, $364 64GB (AT&T) - $466, $370 iPhone 5S ("Like New" condition): 16GB (AT&T) - $480 (store credit), $382 (cash) 32GB (AT&T) - $530, $422 64GB (AT&T) - $580, $462 As of this writing, the GameStop trade-in website only has AT&T models listed for the iPhone 5S, whereas the iPhone 5 has carrier options that include T-Mobile, Verizon and Sprint. Update: GameStop has now pulled the iPhone 5S listings from its trade-in page.
The Mog Log: Point by point
Physical levels are leaving Final Fantasy XIV. We've all known that for a while, to the point that I even wrote a column speculating, in part, about what will happen to the whole bonus point system once that change goes live. As it turns out, what will happen for the time being is that it will be abandoned altogether, with character development going automated until at least 1.20. No more allocation of points to attributes any longer, and no word on what this will mean for the many traits designed to muck about with attribute distribution. This is going to result in a bit of a downgrade for some players (if you're physical 40 and leveling something at rank 10, for instance), but by and large it's also going to help correct a longstanding issue that the game has had. We've got a lot more options for playing around with attributes and abilities when it comes to FFXIV than we did in Final Fantasy XI, but the downside of the breadth has been the simple problem that no one knows what the attrbute values actually mean. You know the number, but the number itself is pretty much meaningless.
The Daily Grind: How concrete do you want your numbers?
RPGs in general have always been associated with the idea that abstract qualities can be quantified -- everything from strength and agility to personal charisma and willpower. The concepts have become so tied together that saying something has elements of an RPG usually means "you make numbers go higher." Games like World of Warcraft and EVE Online both have extensive information available about the numbers behind the working of the game. On the other hand, people have complained that the emphasis on numbers turns the game from an exercise in play and experimentation into differential calculus. And there's certainly room for games like Final Fantasy XI, which gives enough information for comparison without going into detail about what a given value actually does. On the other hand, by removing contextual comparisons, it becomes difficult to figure out what effective difference there actually is between Accuracy +3 and Accuracy +5. So which do you prefer in a game? Would you rather tend toward having all of the numbers laid out in front of you, even if it means needing ornate spreadsheets to enjoy everything? Or would you rather keep as much of the system as possible under the hood and invisible?
